Surgical procedures can result in post-surgical complications that need to be addressed and rectified in order for the surgical patient to make a full and healthy recovery. The various possible complications of a surgical procedure can include a surgical site leaking or oozing blood of other body fluids, which can be life-threatening especially when the surgical site is inside the body at an internal organ or body lumen, such as the gastrointestinal (“GI”) tract. While other complications, such as infection, can be problematic, many are often treatable or can be overcome without reopening the surgical site or having to perform a subsequent surgical procedure. However, blood or other body fluid leakage from an internal surgical site can go undetected until the leakage becomes life threatening and the surgical patent becomes extremely sick or even dies.
For example, colorectal anastomosis procedures can result in anastomotic leakage from the internal surgical site, which can cause severe heath complications and even death. One problem with anastomotic leakage from a colorectal surgical site is that the leak is internal and not visually detectable once the surgical patient has been closed up, and confirmation of such a leakage can require the original surgical site to be reopened and examined.
Accordingly, it can be difficult for a medical professional to determine whether or not an internal surgical site has a leakage. Often, surgical complications are monitored by assessing clinical symptoms, such as fever, breathing difficulties, neurologic irregularities, and sepsis. However, blood or other body fluid leakage from an internal surgical site may not present clinical symptoms for one or more weeks post-surgery. During the lag time after surgery and before clinical symptoms manifest, a surgical patient with an internal leakage may become extremely sick, incurable, and possibly die.
Major complications of a colorectal anastomosis can arise from the leakage being from the surgical site where two parts of the GI tract were put back together. In this type of internal surgical procedure, the chance of a leak can be substantial. Additionally, patients that have other health complications, such as elderly patients, diabetic patients, or cancer patients, can take longer to heal from a colorectal anastomosis and may be more susceptible to developing an anastomotic leak.